Mental Health Topics

If you were recently prescribed Lexapro to help relieve anxiety or depression symptoms, you might be wondering if you’ll have to change anything once you start taking it—like your happy hour plans. Does alcohol make the medication less effective? Can you get sick from drinking while taking it? Questions like…

If you have a complicated relationship with food or your body, the holidays can be a bit of a minefield. Maybe instead of looking forward to seeing your relatives, you’re dreading what they’ll say when they see how your body has changed since last year. Or maybe you’re emotionally preparing…

If you’ve heard or read about dismissive avoidant attachment style, it may have sounded familiar. Maybe you dated someone who was emotionally unavailable and never let things get too deep. Or maybe you’re the one who always keeps partners at a safe emotional distance. Like other insecure attachment styles, dismissive…

“Do we need to take the knives with us?” my friend asks. The question is one I’ve never heard before. Two hours ago, I texted my friend and his husband that I was suicidal for the seventh time in my life. They both came over to hold me as I…

There’s a chill in the air and the sun is setting before dinner time, which can only mean one thing: ‘tis the season for seasonal depression. For the fifth year in a row, Thriveworks analyzed Google search trends and weather data to predict when and where seasonal depression will hit…

Movies, TV, and social media often make it seem like hot, frequent sex is the norm, even in long-married couples. So if that’s not the kind of intimacy between you and your partner, it can make you wonder: can a relationship survive without sex? The truth is, plenty of committed…

Whenever another sexual assault case enters the news cycle, it can impact survivors in profound ways. Because amidst the outrage and the countless stories of solidarity is a steady stream of victim-blaming in the public discourse that survivors of sexual assault know all too well. Did they report it? When?…

Whether you don’t have siblings, you’re a parent to an only child, or you’re considering how many kids to have, “only-child syndrome” is probably on your radar. Maybe you’ve seen memes stereotyping them as bossy or spoiled or you’ve heard stories of lonely, difficult childhoods from your friends who grew…

Everyone has bad days—even therapists. And while no one is perfect when it comes to bouncing back after a series of unfortunate events, therapists do tend to have a variety of coping skills in their toolbox for moments like this. We asked 12 mental health clinicians what they do on…

Therapy is great, but it’s not the only place you can find expert insights and new perspectives that shake you to your core. Sometimes the right book at the right time can help you feel less alone, process emotions you’ve been burying, or even learn a new skill. We asked…

There’s no denying it: Making friends as an adult can often be awkward. Unless you happen to hit it off with your coworkers, roommates, or others you’re in close proximity with, you usually have to go out of your way to meet people you click with. And when you do,…

Sometimes two completely different mental health conditions can look surprisingly alike. That’s the case with complex PTSD (CPTSD) and borderline personality disorder (BPD)—two highly nuanced, and sometimes poorly understood, conditions. CPTSD and BPD do share certain symptoms and, often, parts of a backstory. That’s why it takes a trained expert…